Posted in Health, Wisdom

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Pollen

Pollen
Pollen

I know, today is Thursday.

But I can assure you, the clouds have been crowded, lately.

With huge yellow clouds of pollen in the sky. No kidding.

So now that we’ve had an entire INCH of rain, we’re all better. Whew. Even breathing better.

In case you’ve missed this before, here’s what to do if pollen is giving you fits. I post this occasionally, but if you’ve missed it before, you’re going to love the unmedicated way to beat pollen.

It’s what works.

Enjoy.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Food, Health, Homemaking

Pompoms and Bonbons

DIGITAL CAMERAThey Kind of Go Together

Have you ever studied how sugars give us quick energy? I did, in 7th grade, which happened several decades ago, for me.

Several decades.

I had to memorize the benefits of various components of normal foods and other things we might eat that are not normal foods, to pass a homemaking test.

Back then, almost all girls studied homemaking. We each wanted to make a home — to turn a house that housed two strangers into a safe and welcoming nest for two who acted as one entity — and to welcome the regular appearance of new, tiny, perfect strangers joining the melee.

Things changed. Boys who desired to be professional chefs felt they should take homemaking. Girls who wanted to know how to fix their own stopped sinks felt they should take shop. Besides, the gender mix was fun. But I digress.

While learning to make a home, we learned good nutrition. All the diets recommending eliminating carbs to lose weight find their basis in pure science, quoted in our homemaking textbooks from the late sixties, and it was old news even then.

You cannot have bonbons unless you get a-movin’. Or else, you will grow fat.

They taught us. We learned it and passed tests. Sugars are for quick energy. Consume sugars and you must burn them or else you will grow fat.

We also learned:

  • Too much sugar consumption could lead to diabetes. Fact.
  • Honey, although it can have a similar effect, is not as bad. Fact.
  • Protein is for long-lasting energy. Fact.
  • Salad before a meal improves digestion. Fact.

Educated people knew these nutrition facts back then. So before a basketball game, players received instructions to eat protein and sugar. Coaches often kept Snickers and other rich candies on hand to rejuvenate a team member, if needed. Players often had a double cheeseburger for lunch and a double chocolate malted for a pre-game treat. Cheerleaders ate like that, too. Such athletic types could actually feel the added boost, they told us.

We envied them.

Today I do not. Today I work from several more facts, not known to science back then:

All these facts, in famous research, such as the Nurses’ Study, form the basis for much of the health protocol at the Mayo Clinic and for Dr. Atkins’ work, not to mention the “come latelies” such as “South Beach” and “Lose the Wheat Lose the Weight”.

But one more fact that spurs this post, a fact no one could have possibly known before: I woke up with a sore throat today. A bit achy and too tired for cheerleading, I’ve decided to post about good health until I again possess it.

Be well!

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Food, Health, Inspiring

Weekly Photo Challenge – Lunchtime!!! Mmm!!!

Lunchtime
Swai Filet on Morrow Squash – Lunchtime

What to have for lunch – the eternal question.

Spending my daytime often solo, I have devised the plan I love:

Cook a decent supper, and then reheat for lunch the next day.

Our supper last night was sublime. If I do say so, I cannot help it. I just had to try this combo. I could not stop myself.

The results?

A few swai filets, breaded in egg, almond meal, and course black pepper, sautéed in olive oil, served over a bed of hot morrow squash, al dente, in a sauce of winter onions braised in butter and sour cream, with swai pan glazings and a skif of cayenne stirred in.

We nearly foundered.

But “nearly” only counts in hand grenades and horse shoes.

I got my reward, very carefully warmed over, today, with a cuppajo, or should I say, a very aromatic mug of Arkansas’ own Biff’s coffee, from which I receive no remuneration save the golden drink, itself.

Drool on, Michelle W.; I can’t help it.

Posted in Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Health, Herbs

Whatever Works. A Code

dose globules de 1 gramme

I’ve had a “code id by doze.”

But in one day I was well.

This was an entirely untimely disease that struck me very suddenly and flattened me.

In one day, I was well.

On last Wednesday afternoon, I was fine. By nightfall I was sneezing, weakening, and worried. By Thursday morning, I had a fever, aching sinuses, and zero energy.

We were leaving for a 12-hour car trip to an important destination on Saturday morning, very early. North.

However, by the very next night, I was well enough to realize I need not stay home, and on Saturday morning, very early, I felt cured.

I think you would like to know how I did this, so I will explain and you must believe I do not get any reward for mentioning the products I used. Here goes:

  • On Wednesday night, when I started feeling bad, I was out of the house, but had one very wonderful product in my purse: Sambucol. I keep that in my purse if at all possible. It is for taking at the first sign of a cold. I was sneezing and chilling. So I took it often. More than once I have found this product stops a cold for me. The directions call for melting the tablet in the mouth, but I know that works best for many people if we consider inside the cheeks the best melting place for these types of supplements.
  • Once I got home, I took Oscillococcinum. I took another dose right before bed, too. We try to keep this wonderful cold and flu stopper on us at all times, too, and I should have had some of it in my purse, but did not. My husband keeps this at work, too, because he, too, finds it supremely effective at stopping viruses. Again, it is to be melted and held in the mouth for as long as possible.
  • I often use another similar product called Coldcalm, and because I was worried about missing out on the trip, I chose this occasion to use it also.
  • Finally, I added Umcka Cold Care drops to my treatment. I was serious about getting well, you can tell.
  • With supper, instead of my usual beverage, I’d had water with Airborne in it. I always drink this when I’ve been around sick folks or when I feel my immunities need boosting. So by the time I knew something was amiss, I was already geared for action.
  • I keep a box of Celestial Seasonings Complete Care Echinacea tea , and made myself a double of that at bedtime. Mmm.
  • Also at bedtime, I took one Benedryl capsule, since my nose was beginning to burn and stop up. I also rubbed Mentholatum over my nose.
  • Because I ached and could feel fever coming on, and because I cannot tolerate aspirin, I took a couple of white willow bark capsules.
  • I went to bed early. Sleep is very important.
  • In the middle of the night I woke and drank a large glass of water, following it with another dose of “Oscillo” plus another dose of Sambucol.
  • All day, Thursday, I rested in a recliner and repeated all the above as often as needed. One exception: I used Sudafed in the daytime for my stopped nose and ears, at a half-dose.
  • I had absolutely NO sugar. Sugar zaps immunities. I seldom have sugar anyway, but was extra careful at this time.
  • By Friday morning, I felt quite a bit better; by Friday afternoon, I knew I could go on the trip.
  • By Saturday, although I took all those meds with me on the trip, I never used them, except for Benedryl at night. I was well.

The important aspect of all this is that I was able to catch the progress of the disease in the very smallest beginnings of it. Once a virus gets the upper hand, these products do not work for me. Nothing does, then.

You may price the above products and if you think them expensive, you have not been to the doctor lately, and you certainly have not had to go two or three times before you got well. We consider the price of these products health insurance, or even health “ensurance”.

Posted in Health, Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

Intrinsic.

Intrinsic
Intrinsic

At times far more effective than words, an adult’s body language helps a child develop intelligence.

Instead of saying “good job,” the mother reaches for her tiny fingers, slightly presses her forehead to the little girl’s and gives her a pretend smooch.

The action is simple, but it communicates her tenderness and support effectively.

Read more here!

And KNOW: You CAN get beyond just wishin’!